Immersive projection displays such as CABIN and COSMOS have been connected through a broadband network. This kind of network environment is expected to be used as a multimedia virtual laboratory. In particular, video avatar technology has been developed in order to realize high-presence communication in this multimedia virtual laboratory. A video avatar is a computer-synthesized 3D image created using live video. This method has the characteristics of being a natural, accurate and convenient communication tool. In this study, the communication capabilities of the video avatar were experimentally evaluated. In addition, the video avatar technology was applied to several communications applications, such as that of guiding colleagues and undertaking design work in networked immersive projection displays.

The immersive projection display, CABIN was connected to several similar displays via an ATM network. In order to share the virtual world with a high quality of presence, transmitting the user's figure is a key technology. In this study, a 2.5 D video avatar method was developed. The user's figure is captured by stereo cameras and it is superimposed on the shared virtual world as the 2.5 D video avatar. In addition, the pointing accuracy using the 2.5 D video avatar was experimentally evaluated.